Guide dog users in Norfolk left stuck inside as temperatures soar again
Our furry companions aren't protected from the scorching pavements and can't regulate their sweat as well as we can
Last updated 12th Aug 2022
Soaring temperatures mean many with sight issues in Norfolk and Suffolk are having to cancel their plans and stay indoors until the end of the week, for the sake of their guide dogs.
Our furry companions aren't protected from the scorching pavements and can't regulate their sweat as well as we can.
"People don't think about the working dogs"
Rachael Andrews lives in Norwich and is blind, she tells us there's a lack of awareness around the issue: "I've said I can't come because I can't get there, and people go, 'why can't you'? and I say my dog just can't work in this weather and they go, 'oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that'. People don't think about the working dogs, unless you point it out.
"My husband and I are very, very bad long cane users. So anything that's absolutely vital- we can get around with a long cane, if we have to.
"Fortunately neither of us have jobs that require us to leave the house everyday. So what I do, I do from home- so I can fudge it."
"I do wonder whether climate change is going to affect the way that guide-dogs are going to be trained"
Ms Andrews told us that we're just not prepared to deal with this- and there's no easy solutions to the growing issue: "Those dogs are bred for the climate and in other countries their infrastructure is set up for hotter weather.
"So for example, lots of places have air-conditioning and with regards to the guide-dogs they are bred and trained in a different way.
"For example, in the USA in certain schools they give the dogs little boots in case they have to walk on hot pavements and the lack".
"I do wonder whether climate change is going to affect the way that guide-dogs are going to be trained, or something is going to have to come of it.
"In the meantime, it's has been thrust on us, but we should have also seen it coming. We have to deal with what we have now, something will have to give but what that is- I just don't know".
It's day two of a four-day amber 'extreme heat' warning in Norfolk and Suffolk, with temperatures expected to get even hotter this weekend.